Re: SoundSmith on a PC???

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:

>In article supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) writes...
>
>>spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:
>> 
>>>In article terryolsen@aol.comRemoveMe (TerryOlsen) writes...
>>>
>>>>Does anyone know if there's a program for the PC that will play SoundSmith
>>>>Songs?  Sounds like a good project for some of you dual-platform people out
>>>>there...
>>>
>>>    As a matter of fact, Ian Schmidt (author of AudioZap and MODZap) 
>>>wrote just such a player for PC's, as a Win32 application. It plays
>>>Soundsmith and MegaTracker songs, and the latest update supports a
>>>3Dfx graphical player! (I didn't get a chance try it yet, I need to
>>>download the latest Glide drivers for my Canopus Pure3D).
>>>
>>>    It's called MegaTracker Player (MTP) and can be downloaded from:
>>>http://www.iag.net/~irsman/warez.html
>>>
>>>    Definitely worth downloading, Soundsmith songs sound *much*
>>>nicer than they do on a real IIgs, really crisp
>> 
>>Actually, the crispness is an illusion.  What Ian did was to turn
>>off anti-aliasing on the PC soundcard.  This may result in a
>>sharper pitch, but you get a horrible stairstepped effect.
>
>    Heh, interesting theory, since there is no such thing as an 
>anti-aliasing filter controllable through software. Furthermore,

Huh?  The Amiga's anti-aliasing filter is in fact controllable
(on and off) via software.

>even if it did exist, there would be no way for DirectSound to
>control it.

Download Smart MODplayer for Windows and see.

>    The documention that comes with Ian's latest release states
>the following, and from that I quote: "MegaTracker Player (MTP) 
>is a program which enables you tp play most SoundSmith and Mega-
>Tracker songs from the Apple IIgs on an appropriately equipped
>PC-compatible computer, often with higher quality than the real
>IIgs due to the GS's low (26 kHz) mix rate compared with the
>44.1 kHz CD-quality possible on the PC." (and no, please don't
>repost that thing about the low pass filter, I'm just quoting
>what the author said).

Then Ian's got it wrong.  Mitchell, I'm not getting on your
case just for the heck of it, but why won't you see what an
anti-aliasing (also known as a low-pass) filter is for?  I've
emailed you a journal article from a prominent Canadian
electronics journal that talks about it, yet you continue to
ignore the facts.

Why don't you just visit your university and do a search
for "low pass filter" or "anti-aliasing filter" there and prove
it to yourself?  Or even search the internet using Yahoo.

I'm telling you the truth when I say that an anti-aliasing/
low-pass filter set at 26Khz is not the same as saying the
sampling rate is 26Khz.  A CD player samples at 44Khz
and yet itself has an anti-aliasing filter at 22Khz.

For the last time, sampling rate and frequency are NOT
the same thing.  You are only going to capture a frequency
half of your sampling rate.  ANY sampling theory textbook
will tell you this.  READ the lesson plans in countless
schools online when you do an internet search that say
this.  The filter is refering to FREQUENCY not sampling
rate.

>>My Windows MOD player is "Smart MODplayer by J.M.
>>Chouquais."  It is an excellent program.  Find it on Yahoo.  This
>>program allows you to turn your anti-aliasing function built into
>>your sound card on and off.
>
>    Sounds like your talking about software mixing.

That's not what the docs say!